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7th Circuit Backs Use of Fan Footage in Joan Rivers Film

BY Stan Soocher
January 31, 2013

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of a suit by a fan whose 16-second backstage discussion with the comedienne Joan Rivers was included in the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Bogie v. Rosenberg, 12-1923.

Ann Bogie had approached Rivers after a show at a Wisconsin casino to obtain Rivers' autograph on a book and to express support for Rivers over heckling from an audience member who was angered by a joke Rivers told about Helen Keller, who had been deaf.

On Bogie's invasion of privacy claim under Wis. Stat. '995.50(2)(a), the appeals court noted that she had spoken to Rivers “in the presence of several security personnel and a film crew. No reasonable person would expect privacy in that situation.” The appeals court added: “Courts have found that even performers themselves cannot count on a reasonable expectation of privacy in their own backstage areas.” Also, “the fact that Bogie was embarrassed to be filmed saying something she regrets having said and now deems offensive does not convert the filming itself into a highly offensive intrusion.”

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